So You Think You Can Dance Australia – Paula Abdul Showed Why She Was Hired

by Reality Raver

It was a smart first live show on So You Think You Can Dance Australia, with the dancers being able to perform in their own genres giving them a chance to shine. As some of the top 20 were not as well known as others due to limited screen time it gave them the opportunity to gain some fans before being placed in a dodgy ballroom or hip hop routine.

Also it meant there was not a lot of male/female pairings which was an advantage for some of the dancers, as who needs those pesky lifts when there are first night nerves to combat.

Also Paula Abdul showed why she is worth the pay check. For me she was underwhelming in the top 100 week, but last night she and Jason Gilkison shone with articulate and knowledgable feedback.

First out of the blocks was a all male routine which was choreographed by Matt Lee. It was great and also showed that Blond the Asian hip hop guy is going to go far in the competition.

Renelle and Lauren were the first to do their routine which was a contemporary jazz routine choreographed by Stephen Tannos. Tannos was a former contestant on the show who had been an unfortunate early casualty. His routine was a nice start and he had two strong dancers to work with. Rennelle, who I cannot remember from the top 100, was also having to deal with not being there for her husband whose father had died the previous week. Cue bringing the emotion to the routine.

Nadiah, Blond, Jay, and Joel were up next dancing to a Christopher Scott routine to the song Do You Love Me by The Contours. Blond was really allowed to shine with all his tricks which meant the other boys faded a bit into the back ground. Nadiah was cute but there was not a lot of technically difficult dancing from her. However she has received a lot of airtime so expect she will be safe.

I like the serious non-ditzy Paula Abdul and she told the dancers it is important that when in a group that you have to be able to pull focus. Jason Gilkison thought it borderlined on cheese, but singled out Blond for praise. Aaron loved it because there was tapping on stage.

Jordan, Maddie and Eden were anointed the strongest technical dancers in the competition by their choreographer Sarah Boulter.They did a lovely routine to Heart Cry by Drehz. Paula gave some great feedback telling Maddie that she needs to maintain her core as she said when you are that flexible sometimes you have to reign it in. Eden is another dancer who has not had much airtime was praised.

Kathleen and Thabang the ex-lovers danced a ballroom routine choreographed by Gleb and Elenya. They danced to Where Have You Been by Rhianna. Thabang was working it hard and showed why he has a shot of being the first ball room dancer to take out this competition. However he was criticised for overdancing and taking the focus off the girl. True he was far better to watch and disagree with Jason Gilkison that he should dim his dancing switch. This is a show that relies on the public vote to get you further in the competition, making your partner look good at the expense of yourself is going to see you eliminated. Also as Jason G said Kathleen was a bit sloppy with her moves so watching her is not going to get her votes. I expect her to be an early casualty.

However one person who was not letting twenty dancers on stage over shadow his performance was Robbie Williams. He may not have the strongest voice but he knows how to perform and oozes sex appeal.

After Robbie, it was Sally, Yukino and Patric all hip hop dancers turn to perform. The choreographer was Tiana Canterbury who choreographed a routine to Talk Dirty by Jason DeRulo. Patric took is time on stage and grabbed it even though he was not technically perfect and Yukino was a cute dancer.

Ashleigh, Zoey, Chris and Stephen danced a jazz number to a Marko Panzic routine. The song was Mamma Knows Best by Jessie J.It was a sassy routine which was performed really well. The only downside for the dancers that it would be hard to single anyone of them to vote for as they all morphed into one. Zoey was great but I barely remember her from the top 100 week. It will be a travesty if one of these four get the bullet tonight as they did dance very well indeed.

The highlight of the episode were 18 year olds boys, Michael and Sam, who danced to a Debbie Ellis routine. The song was Brother by Matt Corby and it was the performance of the night. Carrie Bickmore was crying which does not bode well for her when she has to eliminate dancers she could turn into a basket case. Having said that she is doing a good job as host as she is keeping the focus on the dancers and the judges and not herself.

The final number was by the girls in a number by Christopher Scott to Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful. It was mildly ironic that ten attractive girls were doing a routine about the pressure the media puts on women to look a certain way.

If I had to guess who is going I would say Sally and Joel.

The 7.30pm time slot did not bring them in big ratings, but hopefully if they keep it there it will start to build. It is a great show and deserves to get viewers.

I loved it & am sorry the ratings are so low… hopefully they build pretty quickly. I would hate for it to be cancelled as I have been looking forward to it for ages. I hope the recorded ratings show a big leap at least!

Hi Guys, I agree, SYTYCD last night was one of the best. The only suggestion I have is that they somehow get Carrie to differentiate her voiceover/hosting voice from The Project. The VTs especially were very Project-esque which put me off a little. Cat Deeley’s breezey style is still serious but sounds less documentary.

Also, I couldn’t work out which one of the boys was in the beginning routine with his shirt open? I know it’s a tad awkward to ask, but naturally I was checking him out but couldn’t figure out later in the episode who that actually was as the faces weren’t easy to see at the start! Can anyone help solve the mystery?

Sorry it’s been so long RR you probably don’t really remember me, but I just wanted to say that i’m so glad your site is still strong, every office job I ever undertake, I slot your site into my RSS feed straight up.

Enjoyed the show! Felt a bit more low-budget though. That theatre felt cramped and small.

Jordan, Maddie and Eden delivered my favourite routine and it’s finally something I had been wanting from an Australian version! I watch for the dancing and it’s definitely a step up from the previous seasons. Must be the better choreographers.

I also liked Blond, Sam and Michael. They definitely caught my attention too!

LOVED the idea of not only having couples but group performances. I got bored with the whole couples thing. Nice to see larger groups and couple-teams of the same sex. But hopefully they don’t drag down with this coupling.

This show is so entertaining. I cannot think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy it. The only problem is the shows time slot. That’s why ratings are so poor. Sunday night forces the show to compete with other programmes that begun before SYTYCD, meaning people are unwilling to make the switch to a new programme (sytycd) as they are already invested in another show on a different channel. Last nights time slot was doomed for failure as it competed directly with the INXS special that was inevitably going to rate well because the mini-series was one of the highest rating shows in a while. The issue here is not Sytycd, It is its time slot. The US version rated well when it was on FRIDAY nights as it had little competition. Sunday nights are the most competitive night for Australian TV and by placing sytycd there, due to it having started later than it’s competitors of course people aren’t watching! Also the show’s target audience would consist a lot of teens and young adults who have to get ready for school/uni/work for the week and would want an early night making them possibly unable to watch the show then. I am praying the show won’t be axed as it’s wonderful. The judges are amazing, especially Paula Abdul, she’s such a beautiful woman inside and out who is a master of dance. Carrie is a natural, professional host and the talent is exceptionally high. The ratings issue can be fixed by airing the show in a different time slot, it’s that simple.

I have only managed to catch a bit of dancing, and yes they can move but so far, and this is only the ones I saw, they were pushing it tooooo hard. I was pleased when I heard one of the judges say to someone, “You’re over-dancing. I love very loose dancing like some of the olden day afro Americans did in the Ain’t Misbehavin’. Or the old black guy who danced with Shirley Temple. Or Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Donald O’Connnor. Bodies as loose as a goose.

I really enjoyed the show and the dancers are overall really strong. My fav performance was Jordan, Maddie and Eden.. I am not usually into the contemporary routines so much (love me some hip-hop) but I was mesmerized! I hadn’t rated Jordan as a top contender until now.

I also really liked Sam and Michael. Sheesh.. Sam is just all muscle! I felt awkward staring at his 6 pack (or possibly even 8 pack..).

My favs so far are Blond, Lauren, Sam, Michael, Stephen, Eden and Jay. It will definitely be harder for those who have had little to no air time to catch up to those who have been prolifically featured such as Sam, Maddie, Lauren, Nadiah, Ashleigh and Patric and Thabang and Kathaleen. I think that these last two were the weakest of the night together.

The judges were good, too. Was it just me, or was the whole Jesse thing kinda awkward?

Yes its gotten much better. The judges have obviously found their feet a little bit. And Paula Abdul was great. They are giving the dancers a better chance to shine too. Great to see so many of the amazing choreographers back on board too – including dancers from seasons past. The Contemporary piece was just stunning as were the two boys. They need to do something with the autocue height. Nat Bass always looked half asleep and so does Carrie when she is reading the autocue they must be looking down? Anyway it looks wrong they need to move it. Timeslot move would be ideal – As a viewer Sunday nights is just stupid at the moment. And then a veritable drought for the rest of the week. But RR tell me – what’s the goss on Jason Coleman? Why is he nowhere to be seen?!